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Serving society towards sustainability Albania n Environmental Movem ent in European context

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Page 1: Environmental movement-aAlbanian Environmental Movement in European Contextlbania

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Page 2: Environmental movement-aAlbanian Environmental Movement in European Contextlbania

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Albanian Environmental Movement in European Context

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Preface

In his road to development Men have shown extraordinary values, but in certain phases, is dominated by aggressive behaviour towards himself and the living environment. In such a context the statement in1952 of Albert Schweitzer, the German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, is very significant. "When men will learn to respect even the smallest creature, plant or animal, nobody will need to educate him to love and respect men itself”

In the beginning of 1990s the Albanian society entered in a new phase, which was accompanied with dramatic effects in all aspects, not only on human beings but on nature as well. Nevertheless, there were many voices and organisations that started to work for the protection of nature and environmental values in urban and rural areas. Some of those voices were personalities in academic institutions direct linked with environment. Without their role the destructions in Albania would even have been bigger. They were professors, teachers, specialists and journalists who, with their authority and contribution, achieved to raise awareness of students, youth and interest groups in the community to protect nature values as a treasure for today and future generations. I would like to highlight three of them. First the role of Association for the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). In the first transition decade that involved many intellectuals. Second, Ekolevizja, as an emblematic form of organisation of the environmental movement in the second decade. Both organisations played a very important opponent role towards anti-environmental policies and environmental education in the past 20 years. Finally, I would like to mention Prof. Dr. Lekë Gjiknuri as a distinguished pioneer in Albanian environmental movement.

In strengthening the Albanian environmental movement the role of the international partners have been of importance, since they have passed through our experiences in earlier years. Their financial, organisational and capacity building contribution have (2

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been vital in different sectors of NGOs in Albania. The booklet it is a synthetic summary of the main phases that environmental movement has passed on in Albania and Europe. Even though in a limited number of pages the treated themes are substantial for the functioning of the environmental protection as the civil society and its environment, building networks, information and transparency, capacity building and finances.

In the state when the civil society, in its role for the protection of environment, lacks the political support, its activity has been difficult and brave. I would like to emphasise that without this role the Albanian environment would have been damaged considerably. I'm ending with the idea that when the Albanian politics will involve more civil society actors with eco-friendly behaviour, then it will really show maturity in human aspects and care and respect to simple creatures, plant or animals. This will sign the end of transition in Albania and its entrance to the civilisation path.

Besnik BARE, Member of Parliament Albania

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Introduction

This booklet describes lessons learned about building civil society for the environment within the project, 'Strengthening Albanian Civil Society for an Improved Environment' (SACSIE), conducted in Albania from 2007 to 2010. The project is an excellent example. The publication will serve the needs of Albanian NGOs for future network development. It will also be distributed to other sectors of Albanian society that work on network development.

The SACSIE project marks a stage in network development of Albanian environmental civil society, but based on our experience, this stage is not the final one. The booklet will not only describe steps, achievements and lessons learned, but will also provide food for thought regarding next steps to be taken within the current Albanian environmental movement. The same recommendations could also apply to other sectors and their networks, although their current stage might be a different one. The SACSIE project had all the elements of civil society building that were developed one by one in earlier projects in other countries. Currently there is no publication available in this field that deals with the subject of civil society building for environment and nature. In the current EU accession process, funds like IPA support civil society building in many countries. This publication can help donors, civil society organizations and interested professionals in forming their opinion and strengthening their theoretical base for their actions in this field.

The publication is also an excellent way to generalize the experiences from the past three years in the SACSIE project and lessons learned after 10 years of cooperation between Milieukontakt and civil society for nature and environment in Albania.

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Content

1. Civil society for the environment A short description of the history of civil society with a special section on Albania and its recent developments placed in the context of developments elsewhere

2. Building Networks Experiences with network development and a description of

Ekolevizja and its role within the environmental movement in Albania, compared with other networks

3. Strategies (Cooperation, Working groups, Information, Innovation, Confrontation)

Examples of different strategies used by environmental organizations

4. Capacity building for civil society Effective and appropriate methodologies

5. How to finance the movement, future of Albanian civil society on environment Description of ways to finance environmental organizations, their advantages and disadvantages

6. Essential aspects of an effective civil society for the environment, lessons learned in Albania Wrap up of the content and recommendations

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I. Civil society for the environment

A short history of civil society on environment and nature, with a special section on Albania and its recent developments placed in the context of developments elsewhere

One can distinguish three periods in the emergence of organizations for the environment. The first period (naturalism and nature protection) is from 1860 until the Second World War, the second period (environment under threat) is from 1960 until 1980, and the third (international networks for the environment) from 1980 until now.

Naturalism and nature protectionThe effects of industrialization, developments in natural science and a changing attitude towards nature in the first half of the 19th century led to the emergence of biologists, artists, nobleman and industrialists wanting to preserve natural areas. A famous example is the action of the the painters who lived in Barbizon (France) who wanted to preserve the forest of Fontainebleau (1837) because of its beauty. The forest administration wanted to cut the oldest trees in the forest to create an open space. The painters managed to save this area through a lobby. In 1853 the first European nature reserve was established by the French government. One decade later, on the other side of the world, President Lincoln signed the (6

History of civil society on environment

In general one could say that the history of the environmental organizations throughout Europe developed from agenda setting citizens to professional campaign organizations. While nature protection organizations developed as early as the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, and some organizations concerned about the environment emerged at that time, the height of the development of organizations with a mission to work on environmental protection only started in the early seventies of the 20th century. At first, concerned citizens organized themselves on issues like pollution of air and soil from factories. Later this issue broadened to include energy, agriculture, consumerism, transport, water and many more

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Park bill for the protection of Yosemite Park, followed by the establishment of the first National park in the US in 1872: Yellowstone Park. In fact, this happened because of the lobbying and publicity work of entrepreneur James Mason Hutchings and artist Thomas Ayres. They ran a true publicity campaign in New York, with articles and exhibitions that attracted attention and even created tourism to the area. Through lobbying the Congress, they managed to pass the "Bill on Yosemite Grant". In the Netherlands in 1904, the authorities of Amsterdam decided to create a waste dump in the "worthless, barren lakes of Naardermeer", which in fact was a beautiful wetland full of birdlife. It was thanks to a teacher from Amsterdam, Jac. P. Thijsse, that the area is still enjoyed as such. Thijsse managed to lobby with important people and raised the sum of 155.000 guilders, a considerable amount at the time, to buy the area. It led to the establishment of Natuurmonumenten, which, after World Wildlife Fund, is the biggest nature protection organization in the Netherlands, with 820.000 members in 2009, owning more than 100.000 hectares of land. The WWF was established in 1961 in Switzerland under the presidency of the Dutch Prince Bernhard.

Environment under threatAlthough there were some organizations dealing with protection of the environment before the Second World War, only after 1960 was the issue raised on the political agenda and several organizations were established. In 1962 Rachel Carson impressed many readers with her book, "Silent Spring". Rachel Carson described the effects of pesticides on the environment, particularly on birds, causing thinner egg shells and resulting in reproductive problems and death. She criticized the use of DDT and the information provided by the industry. More publications followed, like "Limits to Growth" in 1968, describing the limitations of the use of commodities in connection to the fast growing world population, and "Blueprint for Survival' in 1972 that propagated a transition of modern society into small scale communities. In the supporters' view, this is the only way to survive as a planet. Critics say that these publications were also the start of the doom scenarios often predicted by environmentalists. Nevertheless, the growing awareness provoked the establishment of several international organizations and networks for the environment, based on, roughly speaking, three paradigms. (7

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The first were the radicals who wanted to change structures in society because it was the technocratic, large scale, capitalist structures that caused environmental problems. It was impossible to solve the environmental problems within these structures. Friends of the Earth (1971) can be regarded as an example of this school. FOE was also an example of an organization connecting the real grass roots movement with international activities. The Dutch FOE member, Milieudefensie, was established in 1972.Second were the organizations that tried to create changes within the system, through lobbying and publicity. A Dutch example is Natuur en Milieu (1972), a real expert and lobby organization mainly focused on the national government.The third kind of organization was those that developed and demonstrated examples of alternative ways of living in the form of biological agriculture, saving energy and water and reducing the level of consumption and waste. De Kleine Aarde (1972) is a Dutch example in this category. In 2010 De Kleine Aarde ended its activities after 38 years.In 1971 a group of Canadian environmentalists, calling themselves the 'Don't make a wave committee', chartered a boat to sail into the nuclear testing zone of Amchitka near Alaska. They were stopped by the U.S. Navy but gained a lot of support and publicity for their heroic action. They had named their ship Greenpeace and established an organization with that name in 1972. The combination of heroism and press coverage turned out to be very successful: Greenpeace now has organizations in 41 countries all over the world.

Towards international cooperationThe decade that followed, 1976 to 1986, can rightly be called the disaster decade for the environment. Big chemical disasters (Seveso 1976, Bhopal 1984) oil spills (Amoco Cadiz 1978 and at least 10 other oil disasters) and nuclear accidents (Three Mile Island 1979 and Chernobyl 1986) are all featured in the Environmental disaster top ten described by S.M. Enzier at www.lenntech.com/environmental-disasters.htmThese disasters, in combination with the development of mass media and the use of communication techniques by the professionalized environmental and nature protection organizations, created massive moral and financial support. Citizens became members and governments started to finance (8

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organizations that had proved to be right. At the height, in the Netherlands the organizations had a membership base of around 4 million members, 25 % of the entire population!

International networks for the environmentAlthough international organizations and networks, like International Union for Conservation of Nature (1960) and European Environmental Bureau (1974), were already established organizations in 1980, it was during the past three decades that the environmental movement developed into international networks. Civil society had become a respected partner in the dialogue with governments and the environmental issue had climbed higher on the international agenda. The UN organized an historic meeting on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It had a lot of media coverage and many NGOs were present. A year earlier (1991) in Prague the first conference for Environment in Europe took place. In this process European countries discussed mutual policy and cooperation on the environment. In 1997 World leaders got together in Kyoto to discuss climate change. These conferences grew bigger and bigger with a kind of apotheosis at the meeting on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009, with more than 40,000 participants from governments, civil society and media. This may have been one of the reasons for not reaching a satisfactory agreement there; decision making is quite difficult with so many participants and such broad media coverage.Civil society organizations developed international networks like Transport and Environment (1990), Central and East European Working Group for the Enhancement of Biodiversity (CEEWeb, 1994), CEE Bankwatch (1995), Climate Action Network (1997) and Pesticides Action Network (2003).

Another form of international cooperation was between Western civil society and transition countries that opened up after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The first contacts in this field from the Netherlands were between Polish dissident organizations and Dutch Civil Society. Friends of the Earth was very active in supporting newly developed organizations. After a (secret) visit to Polish dissidents, the Dutch minister of Environment Ed Nijpels started a support program that was implemented by Milieukontakt Oost Europa (1988), established by, amongst others, (9

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Milieudefensie, Friends of the Earth Europe and Natuur en Milieu. In the early eighties dissident organizations came tolife in the slipstream of Solidarnosc, the famous Polish workers union.The first was the Polish Ecological Club (PKE) founded in Cracow in 1980, probably the first legally established independent, environmental non-governmental organization in the former socialist bloc countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This was followed by organizations like the ecologists' paper Green Brigades (1989), Green Federation (1993) and the network Polish Greennet (1995) based on the example of the Dutch network of Milieufederaties. Similar developments were taking place in the Czech Republic and Hungary. With international support, civil society in former communist countries developed as rapidly as the societies changed themselves.

Environmental organizations in AlbaniaAlbanian environmental groups appeared for the first time after the overthrow of the totalitarian regime in June 1991, when democracy created conditions favourable for civil society organizations. There is a geographic division in the development. The first groups appeared in Albania's capital Tirana around 1991. In 1994-1995 groups emerged in regional capitals like Shkodra, Korca, Pogradec and Elbassan. In 1997-2001 there was a boom of NGOs all over the country, triggered by the Kosovo crises; during this period over 160 NGOs were registered. After 2005 network building for environmental organizations began with the ekolevizja network.According to a survey conducted by the Euclid Network on the development of the third sector in Albania, in 2007 Environmental and Heritage NGOs were approximately 10% of the total number of active NGOs registered in Albania (human rights organizations comprise 43%; economic development 12% and promotion of democracy 12%). Environmental NGOs are active mainly in big cities or near areas with special natural values. Among the topics they cover are biodiversity, urban problems, environmental education and protection of natural values.

Democracy and the wake of civil society in Tirana (1991-1993)In Albania environmental problems were the most visible negative effects of the totalitarian system. Environmental protest was seen as an expression of anti-communist ideas. In the early days of the new government the first environmental NGOs were established in Tirana. The Association for the Preservation and Protection of the (10

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Natural Environment of Albania (PPNEA) was the first, officially established onJune 13, 1991, by a special decree of the Albanian Academy of Sciences. PPNEA has developed into the most important voice for the environment outside the government of Albania. It emerged during a period of turmoil and socio-economic change in the country and the wider region, a time when environmental issues were looked down upon and given marginal priority in governing and policy issues. Following its creation, PPNEA established itself as a highly active organization, participating in and organizing many environmental awareness campaigns in Albania as well as undertaking a vast array of different projects with focus on various environmental issues. PPNEA is particularly concerned with conservation and sustainable development issues and its main areas of interest are wildlife management and endangered species conservation, local sustainable projects and initiatives, and landscape conservation. (www.linkedin.com/companies/ppnea) Within the framework of PPNEA, dozens of NGOs focusing on environmental protection have come to existence since 1991. Initially, most NGOs were established in Tirana, Albania's capital, and their members were limited to specialists in fields related to the environmental sciences: biology, chemistry, geography. Most were small groups of fewer than 100 people, though groups with hundreds or even thousands of members do exist. Although the organizations were weak, they showed commitment to protecting the environment. It is not surprising that one of the main events took place in the capital. In 1993 PPNEA organized a campaign to protect the Botanical Garden from illegal constructions. Many other NGOs joined PPNEA in this campaign. The result was not only termination of illegal constructions, but also raising the awareness of the public on environmental issues.

Broadening the movement to regional capitalsA few years later NGOs were established with a more broad-based membership, involving students and support from the general public. In 1994-95, a large number of NGOs were established outside Tirana, especially in districts with acute environmental problems, such as Shkodra, Korca, Pogradec and Elbasan. Those organizations were branches of national NGOs such as PPNE of Shkodra and Korca, or Ecological Club of Elbasani, Kruja, Fieri, Lezha, etc.

The number of environmental NGOs in Albania stood at 52 in 1995, (11

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including the independent district branches of national NGOs. In this period members of the Association for the Protection of Natural Environment in Albania and the Pearl Young Club (est. 1993) protested against the construction of a Sheraton hotel in the area of Artificial Lake. Such protests tried to bring nature protection to the attention of politicians, but unfortunately Albania was a country under development and the Government was open to any type of development and investments, and the Sheraton was built. Another action turned out to be more successful. In 1999 as a result of public demonstration again organized by PPNEA, the government annulled the decision of the National Council for the Regulation of Territory regarding some construction permits in the Tirana Park. Still, most activities took place in the capital, although there were some regional actions in cities with significant natural resources.

The successful actions of PPNEA were still unique in Albania because during the first decade of the movement (from 1991-2000) there was no wide public support for environmental actions. This in contradiction to the numerous environmental problems faced by the Albanian society: severe water pollution, illegal construction and cutting of forest and garbage occupying even peoples' livelihoods or destroying public areas. It was very difficult for the organizations to mobilize Albanian society to fight the heritage of communism and later to face the consequences of the new consumer society. Activities had limited participation and organizations few members. One reason for low involvement of the Albanian public can be the fact that since 1999 there is no fulfillment of basic needs, like employment, housing, health care, electricity, food and education. Maybe these basic needs have to be met before people start thinking about the environment. For as long as the fundamental living issues are not resolved, despite the fact that the long-term requests or goals of the ENGOs support their optimal solution, they will not sensitize the people who are in need of the basic living means. A family that doesn't have a house (the demographic movements have been enormous) will not care if they cut a tree or a forest, which is needed for their new house, or that the open sewers represent a health risk. Besides giving environmental problems low priority, people add to the problems in the fulfillment of their basic needs. An example is illegal wood cutting. Most of the households in Albania and all of the households in the countryside are dependent on wood fuel for (12

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heating. problem of providing sufficient heating for dwellings. The recent reduction in the energy supply caused the shortage to become even more severe. In the last 45 years, 30% of the forest area has been destroyed by the clear-cutting activities of Albanian citizens and foreign companies. In addition, hunting and fishing, as well as the sale of medicinal plant species, have become popular ways to earn hard currency. Rare bird species and fish have been exported and sold for relatively high prices. The hunting practices themselves often have serious consequences.

The Kosovo crisis and the booming civil societyDuring 1997-2001, right after the severe economic crises in Albania, there was a boom of NGOs. The highest ever proliferation of NGOs in Albania occurred during the Kosovo refugee crisis. At its peak, there were over 160 new NGOs registered with the central office in Tirana. Many NGOs started to deliver social services as part of their activities and they provided a wide range of welfare services.

Albania has been struggling for many decades with the

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Sustainability of ENGOs and Growing citizens' protests against unsustainable foreign investments (Since 2000).After the year 2000, environmental actions were covered more intensively by the mass media following new investment plans. An example is the Narta project. 'No Oil' was the motto of the campaign organized in 2002 by environmental organizations and covered by the mass media in order to stop the plans for oil drilling in the Narta Lagoon by the Ina Naftaplin Company. This initiative was supported by young groups and many associations in the region. Another example is the construction of an incinerator by an Italian Company, Albania Bag (May 2004). This plan faced protests by a coalition of NGOs (environmental and human rights), in which Ekolevizja was a leading force. For a few months many activities were organized against the importation of waste from Italy to Albania. For the first time, citizens were part of the protests and obliged the government to withdraw from the commitment and investment.

More and more citizens spoke out against planned investments, and not only in Tirana. A plan for a hydrocarbons terminal adjacent to the southern Albanian harbor town of Vlora was conceived by the Albanian government in 2001. The project was approved in 2003, and a year later a concession agreement with an Italian investor - La Petrolifera Italo Rumena - was signed on the basis of an unsolicited proposal. Part of the agreement included a set of generous incentives, enabling the Italian company to purchase 183,000 square meters of the project area for a symbolic price of 1 euro. In addition, the concession granted the company the right to be the sole operator in the Bay of Vlora. Despite government backing for the project, Vlora's citizens have strongly opposed it, initiating a petition (supported by 14,000 signatures), two requests for a local referendum and numerous civic actions. The first request for a local referendum against the energy and industrial park was presented by the Civic Alliance for the Protection of the Vlora Bay (est. 2005) to the National Election Committee in 2005. The second request for a referendum about the terminal was submitted by the Vlora City Council in October 2007. Both requests were rejected on formal grounds.The street protests against the terminal intensified following the commencement of the construction work. The protests at the turn of the year and in spring 2008 were met with police repression. (14

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A protest organized in May saw the arrest of six Vlora citizens; three Civil Alliance members were kept in prison in inhumane conditions and are currently awaiting trial. This issue has been raised not only on the national level but also through a policy paper prepared by EDEN Center as partner of CEE BankWatch. It was presented at a World Bank meeting in London.

In 2008 Albanian environmental NGOs contested the environmental impact study by Italian company Enel of its Porto Romano coal-fired thermal power plant, demanding that the government either revise or cancel the project. The Ekolevizja movement and EDEN Centre, as front organizations composed of several Albanian environmental NGOs and supported by CEE Bankwatch network, accused the Italian energy giant of ignoring Albanian laws in its environmental impact study of the plant, of misrepresenting the nation's energy strategy and providing misleading information on the application of technologies for carbon capture emissions. According to Ekolevizja and EDEN, Enel's environmental impact study does not give a clear evaluation of carbon emissions by the plant during production.

Environmental groups estimate that if the Albanian government proceeds with the project proposed by Enel, its carbon-fired thermal-power plants will increase carbon emissions in Albania by 6 to 7 million tons every year, doubling current emission levels. In the end, Albanian Environmental NGOs succeeded in canceling such technology.As we can see, the number of NGOs engaged in real policy dialogue with the Government also increased during this period. Watchdog activities were increased in number.

In 2010, in the framework of the program, "Strengthening the Albanian Civil Society for an Improved Environment", the Albanian environmental movement managed to present clear position papers on the issues of air, water, waste and public participation. The papers received serious attention from the Ministry of Environment and can be used as a mutual guideline and lobbying instrument by the organizations.

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II. The development of networks for the environment

Description of the development of networks for the environment with a special section on Ekolevizja and its role within the environmental movement in Albania, compared with other networks

There are many ways an environmental movement can develop. To a large extent, this is connected to the financial basis of the movement. There is a big difference between a country like The Netherlands where the environmental organizations started to develop with financial support from businessmen and land owners, later taken over by private supporters, now around 4 million, (Vara Vroege Vogels 2010 supporters list) andgovernment support.

In many countries the organizations are mainly financed by foreign donors. There is a small membership base and hardly any support from the local or national government. In Milieukontakt's experience, organizations in former communist countries are much more internationally oriented than Dutch local organizatons. Although different, many civil society networks on environment have similar characteristics. Milieukontakt developed a practical theory on

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the support of environmental networks using these characteristics.

Stage 1In most countries, concerned professors, teachers and citizens start to produce publications on the state of the environment. Groups of committed students, mothers, nature lovers and scientists are formed and start being active in their community or country.

Stage 2Many of these groups develop into organizations that meet regularly to discuss new activities. Often they are helped by seed grants from (international) donors and start writing project proposals to get more activities funded. To do this properly, they need a computer, communication tools and people with different qualities in the fields of proposal writing, project management, communication and of course expertise in various environmental subjects. A personal experience of one of the authors of this book was in the early nineties in Poland. In Cracow there was a very active group of young people who managed to mobilize a group of 50 bikers for an environmental action within two days. They used to meet each other in the evenings in the cellar bars in the centre of Cracow. It was a lively and very motivated movement. After 4 years of support, the author visited the office that was established in Cracow and found his Polish partners working on project proposals, sitting behind computers, having meetings on the structure of their organization and formulating goals and activities. The movement had become professional and although people were still very motivated, along the way something of the happy early times had been lost.

Stage 3When these organizations have an office, run projects and gain visibility in their country, they often start to connect with others, first with similar organizations, at least if they can get along. Sometimes the environmental movement is not connecting at all and all organizations fight with each other or have found a way to ignore each other. But when networking takes place the organizations can be effective in lobbying the national government. Again, in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and recently in Albania, there are some excellent examples of this kind of development. Lobbying on the national level also means connecting (19

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with other parties outside the movement, like authorities, unions, agriculture, industries and many others affecting the environment. Thus the organizations really start to become a part of the structures controlling or exerting power; this is the stage of networking and participation.

Stage 4The final stage can be categorized as a sustainable and visible civil society that has strong financial independence. The current situation in The Netherlands shows that for a long time we thought the movement was sustainable and strong, an example for others. In 2010 almost all the organizations had to downsize their staff by between 30 and 60 % because of severe budget cuts from government. Some, like De Kleine Aarde, even had to close their doors. It shows their strong dependence on government funding and their vulnerability in this respect.

In Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, organizations will also suffer a huge financial loss as a result of budget cuts in all countries in Western Europe. This is another example of the risk of dependency on one source of financial support. Unfortunately, organizations do not always have a choice. Greenpeace is one of the few organizations that has always refused work with government funding and has successfully managed to do so.

If you would make a graphic picture of environmental movement networks, it would very much look like this:

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Different umbrella organizations connecting different local groups, organizations connecting on issues (Climate Change Network) or on regional cooperation (Milieufederaties in The Netherlands) or within a structure (Mama 86 in Ukraine, Ekolevizja Albania and Friends of the Earth Europe) and still there are some organizations or even individuals operating on their own in their own country but connecting with partners in other countries. There are grass roots community based organizations, regional support structures and national committees, platforms, umbrellas, and international organizations with partners in many countries (EEB, Transport and Environment, Bankwatch etc.). To make it even easier, there are many different topics like gender and environment (WECF), development and environment (Both Ends), climate change, energy, sustainable living and maybe hundreds of other themes. Some people joke that in The Netherlands every animal has his own organization. At least this is true for birds, mammals, badgers, hedgehogs, butterflies, amphibians, seals, bears, elephants......and monkeys!

What is a similar experience in all countries is that one day questions come up about membership, representation, organization and communication in the network. These questions often give rise to emotional discussion on the level of organization of the network needed, procedures for voting and representation and membership. If you want to turn down organizations that want to be part of the network, you will need criteria, and if you want representation you will need procedures and protocols. Establishing such policies requires tactful leadership because you are dealing with deeply felt values of democracy, trust and consensus on the one hand and the striving for, and maintenance of, power on the other. Discussions tend to get very personal, falling back on long lasting conflicts and bad experiences.

On the other hand, it is an asset if a network can speak with one voice and be visible and understandable to the authorities, the public, media and other stakeholders. Some ways to avoid the above mentioned conflicts are: 1. You can try to develop a clear mission for the network, like: We are organizations and individuals that work together on a sustainable society respecting nature, environment and social (21

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justice without the use of violence and with respect for democracy. All members should subscribe this mission and their own mission must not be contradictory.2. Stick to representation on content: If you develop common

positions on transport, energy, waste or other subjects, it will be the people who have a lot of knowledge on these subjects who will naturally develop as spokespersons for these issues. Their responsibility is to make others proud of being part of a network with such excellent spokespersons.

3. Have a serving network secretariat: Let people who are good at organizing and who have excellent communication skills serve the network with information, meetings and communication tools. Their responsibility is to make it attractive to be part of the network.

4. When there is a national strategy meeting or forum, take care to have a neutral facilitator. The role of the facilitator is to give all participants an equal chance to present their opinions. If they are representing an organization or more than one organization, let them speak on their behalf.

5. If voting or decision making is planned, be very clear and explicit about the procedures and ask participants before the meeting if they agree with the procedures, and follow those procedures exactly during the meeting.

6. Criteria for membership should be very short to avoid complicated procedures. Non-violent, non-commercial, non-governmental non-religious organizations with sustainability, nature or environment in their mission rules out most of the organizations you do not want in your network.

7. Develop levels of membership, like subscribers to the network magazine, financial supporters of the network, civil society organizations, members with a right to vote and non-voting members. There are many ways to attract members to an organized network without losing sight of the mission.

8. The main challenge, however, is to make and keep the network attractive to the members. This is, by the way, a responsibility for all members of the network, but a network also needs 'champions', people who put energy into communication and mobilization of members and supporters.

9. Do not be afraid of differences of opinion on strategy, methods or activities. Diversity may be one of the strengths of a network. Try to build consensus in case of dispute, but if this (22

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achieved, you can agree to disagree and respect each other's intentions. One thing you should avoid is having contradictory actions. It is always bad if one member is negotiating while the other is using a destructive confrontational strategy. This could be a reason for a very tough discussion and maybe exclusion of one of the members, which by the way also requires a procedure.

10. Develop supporting instruments like national strategy meetings, a portal or a website, a platform for discussion.

Ekolevizja, the Albanian Network

From the beginning of civil society development in Albania, there were a few attempts to establish forums of environmental NGOs. The first attempt was in 1994 and the second in 1999. They have not been successful because the establishment of the network had no real objective or issue to work on. From the other side, NGOs were not ready and open to such initiatives. The Ekolevizja network was a successful case accepted not only by organizations but also by government institutions and the wider public in general. It began as a means to access and disseminate information. According to the Albanian Constitution of 1998, Albania recognizes everyone's rights "to be informed on the environmental situation and its protection" and "to participate in decision making processes", but environmental information was lacking.

In May 2000 the Regional Environmental Center (REC) started to scan a number of daily newspapers in order to collect all news about nature conservation and environmental problems. They named their newsletter 'Mjedisi Sot' (Environment Today) and every day the newsletter was sent via e-mail to 300 subscribers and biweekly in hard copy to an additional 250 subscribers who did not have access to e-mail. Gradually the idea developed to turn the newsletter into a more interactive news and discussion forum. The first step to put this into practice was to involve reporters from different regions of Albania with an NGO background, asking them to contribute news to both versions.

In 2003 a group of six environmental NGOs decided to take over the initiative from REC and to change the focus of this publication. Instead of a simple newsletter, the publication would focus on

can not be

(23

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addressing the most pressing environmental issues and would try to involve a more general public. This initiative broadened and by the end of 2003 a group of 11 NGOs took over the newsletter. The group was named "Ekolevizja" (Eco-movement) and began operating in January 2004 with the support of Milieukontakt Oost Europa and later with funding from other donors, such as Regional Environment Centre, World Bank and Organic Agriculture Association. In the National Meeting of the Environmental Associations held on April 25, 2003 in Durrës, a working group discussed the need to transfer the newspaper "Environment Today" to the direction of Environmental Associations. The ideas the working group discussed were as follows: NGOs must have their voice, and having their own written media will help to advance their institutionalization. A single association is neither able nor suited to do this. Therefore, it can be suggested that a group of associations take this initiative, together. This would be an organization like a forum. The capacity among NGOs linked with the logistics, experience and human resources, does exist and guarantees a qualitative environmental movement through formulation and implementation of the right policies. On October 22, 2003, 11 environmental associations expressed direct interest in contributing to the creation of the group "Ekolevizja" with the same name as the newspaper. The aim was to strengthen the joint voice and willingness to build up the synergy and undertake concrete actions by civil society to exert demanding pressure on the decision makers at this stage of the development of the country, to prevent negative impact on the environment and to sustain environmentally friendly development. In September 2005 the "Ekolevizja" (Eco-Movement) Group was legally registered. Registration was necessary for the following reasons:

Ÿ A considerable and growing number of organizations joined the network;

Ÿ There was knowledge available on organizing activities and generating funds that could be shared with (other) members;

Ÿ Specialists and capacities within the network could also be shared;

Ÿ There was the willingness and interest of the members to become a network; (24

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Ÿ There was an increased need for coordination and information exchange.

In recent years, the number of members of Ekolevizja has grownfrom 11 ENGO members in 2003, to 24 in 2006, 32 in 2008 and in 2009, 39 members.

Through the years, "Ekolevizja" became known to the public through the biweekly newspaper, which published professional environmental information and powerful investigative articles on environmental issues. Now the "Ekolevizja" newspaper is widely distributed and the number of its subscribers has risen from 150 to 600. The newspaper has been a reference point for different independent daily newspapers whenever they are investigating, or publishing articles about, environmental problems. Public awareness of the network has been increased by organizing joint actions like national campaigns on diverse issues:

Ÿ The import of urban waste from Italy to be incinerated in our country. The campaign succeeded in making the government reverse its decision.

Ÿ GMOs in Albania demanded improvement of the GMO law. The law was suspended and a new revised law was resent

to the parliament for approval.

Ÿ Protection of natural amenities, such as the Black Lake, where there was a plan to build a hydropower station in a protected area. "Ekolevizja" newspaper published the news and then went on to investigate the problem and confront the responsible persons with the actual law that does not permit constructions of any kind in protected areas, and a TV debate was organized with the specialists and the representatives of the project to be implemented in the protected area of the lake.

Ÿ The protection of inhabitants from industrial pollution in

Elbasan. The main purpose of the campaign was to create communication channels with the local government and support from the civil society. (26

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Ÿ Greening local elections and Ekolevizja together with its

members was active in raising the importance of environmental issues such as water and sewage, urban planning and protection, and improvement of the environment, in the local political agenda.

Ÿ Against the construction of a Thermo Electrical Power Plant in Vlora Energetic Park.

Ÿ Illegal dumping in Sharra and support to local communities for improvement of the actual landfill.

Ÿ Porto Romano which blocked approval of the EIA for the

Thermo Electrical Power Plant in Porto Romano.

Ekolevizja also developed alternatives for dealing with environmental problems in cooperation with other actors. Ÿ Study on the problems of Tirana Lake and its management plan. Ÿ Study on the problems of hills around Tirana and proclaiming

them to have special protected landscape status.Ÿ Best experiences - wetlands in Tirana River for the cleaning of

sewerage water from local population living nearby.Ÿ Training of journalists on investigative journalism and their

involvement in publishing many articles on environmental issues.

What all of these aforementioned topics have in common is the explicit or implicit involvement of government officials. Most national newspapers are closely linked to political parties and therefore will not report on environmental issues when representatives of that party are involved. Even so, Ekolevizja Group has advocated economic development based on sustainable use of natural resources. The effort of the EkoLevizja group to press for more democratic and transparent procedures in environmental decision-making is clearly striking a chord. On the occasion of Urban World Day, Eko Levizja received the '2004 Albanian Leadership for Civil Society' award. And in winter 2010 Ekolevizja was recognized by Bells movement as Environment Ambassador.

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III. Strategies

Examples of different strategies used by environmental organizations

Environmental organizations and networks are not very wealthy and in most cases are non-violent. Their strategies are mostly based on communication, mobilization, influencing law development, stimulating law-enforcement, and policy making. Within these four areas, one can distinguish a range of possible sub-strategies, from cooperative to confrontational. One environmentalist organization can be a partner in a project with government and business, while members from another organization can chain themselves to a fence or have a sit-down strike in front of a train containing nuclear waste. Sometimes this creates conflicts within the movement because in the perception of the public, it is 'the environmental movement', and not a network of very different organizations. It should be noted that there is no such thing as one good strategy. Every cause needs its own mix of strategies and in every society cultural differences will determine whether a strategy is useful or not. What is important to say is that building trust and good relations with stakeholders can take many years, but they can be destroyed in a day. This should be taken into account when choosing the right strategy for a cause.

There are some historic examples of strategies that were successful in certain cases.

Agenda setting The best example of environmental agenda setting is Al Gore's film and book, 'An inconvenient truth'. Gore was already famous for not becoming president of the United States. He managed to put the climate change issue at the top of the international agenda, mainly by showing the hockey stick graphic showing the rapid rise of CO2 emissions causing Global warming. Later many attacks were made on his credibility and that of the IPCC, and even the hockey stick graphic was put up for discussion by so-called climate sceptics, but the issue was definitely on the agenda. The tools Gore used were celebrity, strong communication (28

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techniques, scientific support and focus on a serious global issue

Mobilizing the public against a multinational

While some specialists say it might have been the least harmful for the environment if they had just dropped the Brent Spar oil drilling platform into the sea at the time of the actions of Greenpeace, this was a lost cause for Shell. Shell UK wanted to sink the platform, still containing an amount of oil, into the deep sea. Greenpeace decided in 1995 to oppose this and occupied the platform for three weeks. The occupation made for exciting television, and daily reports were broadcast by news stations all over the world. Finally, Shell, convinced by the risk to its reputation, and not because of environmental concerns, decided not to dump the construction. Currently, parts of it are used in the harbour of Stavanger in Norway. During the action, consumers boycotted Shell, and Greenpeace gained an enormous amount of positive publicity. The strategy can be characterized as a confrontational mobilization campaign. The tools used were media coverage, occupation and consumer mobilization.

Watchdog role:

Preventing road development by legal forceThe Dutch government adopted Road 19 in the national highway plan of 1957. It was a road between Delft and Schiedam connecting The Hague with Rotterdam. Because of procedures from local citizens and environmental organizations, the actual development of the highway was blocked until 2006, when the government decided to build the highway partly as a tunnel, costing 700 million euros for 7 kilometers. Work is expected to begin in 2011. The highway has opposition but also its own fan club, 'Friends of the A4', (with about 12,000 members!) with their own website accusing Milieudefensie of false information and giving artists' impressions of the new road and counting the days until the work will start. In this legal confrontational strategy, Milieudefensie, in cooperation with local organizations, mainly used media attention, and support to local organizations and their legal rights to oppose to the highway.

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Supporting citizens' initiatives

A very positive but also difficult strategy is the mobilization of citizens. Many methodologies have been developed to encourage citizenparticipation. Partners of Milieukontakt have developed the 'Green Agenda' methodology. Green Agenda has two goals: on the one hand, it is a participatory process through which common agreement, communication and cooperation of various local actors can be achieved;on the other hand, the outcome of the process is equally important: an action plan to improve the quality of life by means of sustainable development. The method consists of 17 steps divided into 5 phases. The coordinator and initiator of the process is a local civil society organization (CSO). The main work is carried out by working groups involving all the different sectors in a local community. The working groups involve local stakeholders' representatives: local authorities, companies, CSOs and individuals. Because it involves a large number of participants, the process takes time. Depending on the size of the community, number and size of working groups, and motivation of the participants, results may be achieved within 10 to 18 months. It is a cyclical process: the ending of one process does not necessarily mean the ending of Green Agenda. It can also mean the beginning of the new cycle based on previous experience and results. In that case, phase one is the evaluation of the previous cycle. New citizens and participants can be invited to the 'start-up meeting' of a new cycle, and existing working groups can elaborate their values, or new working groups can be established. In this way, Green Agenda can continue to include citizens in the definition and implementation of a policy of sustainable development in their community. It is important to note that a Green Agenda document is an agreement among the citizens and only bound by their limits of time and budget. It is not a contract with an external party, with a deadline and financial obligations.

In Albania, Green Agenda has been implemented in 3 communes: Preza, Dajç and Voskopoja. Local stakeholders worked in thematic working groups on, for instance, touristic potential, biodiversity and cultural heritage, and formulated strategic plans as well as short term pilot projects. PPNE of Shkodra, Albanian Permaculture Association, Transborder Wildlife, EDEN trainers and (30

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Milieukontakt supported them during this process. It was truly inspirational to see how local communes were able to use a project to build a bridge to the future: in Dajci, a new position was created within the commune for preserving natural and cultural heritage, in Preza tourists will be welcomed by trained guides and information panels on the main sites of interest, and in Voskopoja a new recreational area was created in the center of the commune. All of these things, and many more, will remain and will serve as stepping stones for future sustainable development of these beautiful communes.

Showing examples of good practice

Sometimes, when there seem to be many real or virtual barriers to solutions of environmental problems, setting an example may be a good idea. In 1996, Greenpeace developed the SmILE, to demonstrate how fuel efficient a car can be. The name stands for "Small, Intelligent, Light, Efficient'. De Kleine Aarde in the Netherlands is an example of the previously described 'exemplary organizations' whose mission is to demonstrate solutions to policymakers and public. Milieukontakt applied this strategy in working on obsolete pesticides. After many years of debate on the issue of obsolete pesticides in former Soviet countries, there seemed to be a deadlock, in the sense that many talked about solutions but no-one really acted. Together with two experts, Milieukontakt initiated a program to inventory, collect and repack obsolete pesticides, with model projects in Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. These examples showed that although it was not easy, repackaging was possible without the input of more than two or three western experts. Being in charge

Nature organizations often buy pieces of land to add them to their network of natural areas. This puts them in charge of protection of the area and less dependent on government decisions or the cooperation of private owners.

Awareness raising

Almost all organizations have some kind of awareness raising (31

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strategy. Sometimes it is just awareness raising on the problems the organization is working on, which could even be called agenda setting. In other cases organizations really try to make people conscious of the effects of their behaviour on the environment. Most times it is best to organize awareness raising on very concrete solutions, like prevention of the use of too much water, waste or energy. Awareness raising for the longer term, like adoption of a sustainable life style, has to do more with environmental education, which also is a widely applied strategy. The effects of awareness raising are often hard to measure, especially when it is a long term goal.When they were first established, the main scope of the activities of Albanian civil society organizations on environment was to increase awareness of the need for environmental protection. Organizations have increased in numbers, specialized and diversified their scopemore towards lobbying, protection of natural resources and development of strategic plans. Although there is a tendency to cooperate with (eco-friendly) businesses, the main role and support continues to be on environmental education and awareness raising.

Blaming and shaming

Through advertisements, articles, and radio commercials, environmental organizations sometimes draw the attention of the public to a company that is behaving badly for the environment. Supermarkets that sell very cheap meat from industrial farms and energy companies building coal fueled installations are examples. It is best to practice this strategy only after a long process of negotiation in which you impress the opposite party with the possibility of negative publicity, or even legal action, if it is not willing to change its policy.

Combining lobbying and campaigning

Both lobbying and campaigning are employed by many organizations. WWF, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth all have organized famous campaigns for or against a certain subject. A good campaign needs a clear marketing strategy that defines goals and target groups, and includes professional use of media. Sometimes a scandal or disaster helps to put a campaign at the (32

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centre of attention. It is wise to combine campaigning with lobbying, because if attention is high, politicians will move. Lobbying is a form of organized and conscious influencing of decision makers by giving them good arguments at the right time. This requires knowledge of the playing field and being present when necessary. This means that you have to be there almost all the time because you can never pick the right moment. A good Albanian example is the Project Strengthening Albanian Civil Society for an Improved Environment. For the first time in Albania, environmental sector NGOs and specialists came together and developed a position paper on specific issues (water, waste, air pollution and public participation). In the paper, they stated conclusions and gave specific recommendations to address problems and offered alternatives. These position papers have been developed by a multi stakeholders group and have been consulted and agreed upon by many organizations. Finally, the position papers were endorsed by government institutions as the result of a national campaign. "Act Now - For an improved environment" was a slogan that brought together 15 NGOs in direct awareness raising activities. In addition, many other individuals were approached, ranging from LGUs and ministries to companies and citizens. Due to very good internal coordination of the campaign team and cooperation with other initiatives, the campaign reached out successfully to a large audience of different target groups and managed to achieve much in terms of awareness raising, involvement in decision making and concrete actions.

Clever organizations apply a mixture of strategies. This means you need different kinds of people with different skills. It is always good to know a lobbyist or to have one of your own. Some enthusiastic practical people are always needed for organization and support. A clever campaigner is often needed, and legal experts are always good to have around. Also, you have to know the experts on all the topics you work on because if you are successful, journalists and decision makers will test your credibility on the subject at hand.

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IV. Capacity building for the environment

Being an environmentalist working for a civil society organization requires many skills. Management, communication, environment, urban planning, energy, water, and law are only some of the issues you encounter in daily CSO life. Often people with love for nature get lost in projects, reports, meetings and finances, spending much more time behind the computer than in the field. Capacities need to be maintained and developed. This also goes for the organization as a whole.

There are, roughly speaking, three ways to develop capacities within civil society organizations.

The first is to attract them from outside. If you do not have good financial skills, get a professional involved, either paid or as a volunteer. Many educated people are willing to spend some time for civil society organizations as long as they are respected for what they do and have a certain freedom in the way they do it.

The second way to improve skills is through the maintenance of an education budget for volunteers and professionals to give them the opportunity to develop their skills in an external course or an in- house training.

The third possibility is to develop a supporting structure within the CSO network that facilitates training and learning. In many countries, Milieukontakt supported the development of such a structure in the form of trainers' teams providing different training events.

MethodologyMembers and employees of civil society organizations are often highly educated professionals in their field. They bring a lot of knowledge and experience to each meeting. Another important aspect is a kind of eagerness to be practical and to work towards results. Thirdly, there is a strong tradition of equality and informal relations within the CSO movement for the environment.These three elements impose certain requirements for methodologies used in training sessions. (34

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Participative learning

In the development of capacities within CSO networks, Milieukontakt uses a strong participatory approach based on the adult learning cycle of Kolb and introduced to us by Simon van Koolwijk from Facilicom Consult. (www.facili.nl)The cycle:

In the vision of Kolb, learning is the transformation of information into useful knowledge. The learning cycle requires the learner to progress through four different phases of the learning process. Effective learning requires the ability to apply the things you learn in phase 3, where you form principles based on your analysis in phase 2 of an experience you had at phase 1. This does not come easily for everyone, especially those who are used to learning from lectures. Adult learning requires the active participation of the learner in the learning process. The role of the trainer, then, is to help the learner through this process of learning. A good trainer must have the competence to understand what goes on at each phase and to facilitate the learning process. Another important aspect of the participative learning methodology is that participants in training learn from each other, most times more than they learn from the trainer, who has more of a facilitating role and who analyzes and summarizes in the generalization phase what happened within the group. In each session, each phase has its own specific goals and working methods.

Experience

Participants have an experience or remember experiences

1. Direct Experience

2. Reflecting on Experience

3. Generalization about Experience

4. Application

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connected to the subject at hand. Sometimes the experience is created, for example, in a role play, or when the trainer asks participants to remember an experience they had. The experiences are communicated within the group.

Reflection

Participants reflect on what happened in the exercise and discuss the subject. The trainer asks question like, "What did you observe in the role play, how was it like when you had this experience, what reactions did you get?".

Generalization

The subject is taken to a higher level. Participants share their vision on the subject and the trainer provides a broader context. Sometimes the trainer or an experienced participant gives a lecture with theoretic background referring to literature on the subject.

Application

In an exercise, participants apply the acquired knowledge.Since 2005, several training modules have been developed within theMilieukontakt International trainers' team MITT. All modules are based on a number (6 to 10) of sessions going through the learning cycle.

Green Agenda

Milieukontakt developed the Green Agenda method as a way to guide the process of involvement of citizens in shaping a sustainable future for their community. The method is laid down in an

The Milieukontakt International

Trainers’ Team is a network of

trainers specialized in participatory

methods that seeks to achieve a

sustainable world through

empowering civil society. Its vision is a proactive and responsible civil

society with a noticeable impact in

the achievement of a sustainable

world. Members of the trainers’ team

are trained and selected on the basis

of a shared level of trainers’ qualities, methodology and approach. Based on

shared skills and values, the new

curricula are developed within the

network and offered as trainings to

interested partners. The trainers of

the network come from more than 6 countries in Europe and Central Asia.

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extensive handbook, first developed in Croatia, which gives a step-by-step introduction to the whole process. Since 2000, Green Agenda projects have been initiated with success in about 25 communities in 4 countries. In the period 2007-2010, 18 communities in the Western Balkans went through a Green Agenda process with support from Milieukontakt and the MITT.

Public Participation

This training course is designed to give CSOs on local and sub-national levels the tools to participate in decision making processes concerning the environment. It is based on the pillars of the Arhus Convention, without focusing primarily on the jargon or the legal instruments. The training is organized around a central role-play of an (imaginary) environmental conflict.

Result Based Programming

When you design a project or program, you usually have a lot of dreams of what should be achieved. In the process of translating your dreams for a sustainable future into concrete results, it is important to plan well and to already plan for monitoring moments in which you can assess whether the project/program is still on track. This is often forgotten, or seen as yet another donor obligation. However, quality monitoring will provide you with excellent input to improve your performance and, better yet, afterwards prove this to your target groups and donors. In this two-day training course, participants learn how to develop a result based program, based on the 10-steps Result Based Monitoring and Evaluation model used by the World Bank. Participants learn how to design a basic result based monitoring and evaluation plan.

Mediation

Conflicts are part of daily life when working for civil society. Within the organization, the network and with stakeholders outside the network, you run the risk of being in conflict. In the mediation practice, methods have been developed to manage conflicts and mediate between conflicting parties. During the training, participants experience their own role in conflicts and play the role (37

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of mediator. The training is an introduction. Becoming a mediator will require much more knowledge and skills that can be learned in other courses.

Tailor-made Facilitation

Trainers from MITT can facilitate meetings of clients, assessing the goals and output of the meeting in close contact with the client, adding facilitation tools and participatory discussion methods to arrive at good results.

Curriculum development This training teaches you about your own preferential learning style as a trainer and how to recognize the learning styles of other group members. The training provides insight on how to set up curricula that will cater to the needs of participants with various learning styles. The theoretical background of this training is provided by the Learning Cycle of Kolb. It teaches participants how to set up sessions step-by-step and develop a training with several sessions. This training is obligatory for all MITT members.

Project Proposal Writing

In our experience it is not always easy to structure your thoughts when writing a project proposal at the last possible moment. However, a good proposal is not only the key to getting that well-deserved grant, but also to successful project implementation. During the training participants are guided through the different phases of project proposal writing. Participants are trained to write a successful project proposal going through all phases of writing, starting with problem analysis, goal setting, strategy development, and formulating a management and monitoring plan.

Most of the training modules were applied in Albania and several, such as result based programming and mediation, were developed in close cooperation between Albanian and Dutch trainers from the MITT.

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V. How to finance the movement

Description of funding strategies

Financial sustainability has always been and will always be an issue for civil society working on environment and nature. This applies to the established organizations as well as to the volunteer groups on the grass roots level. There are roughly three sources of financial means:1. Government support2. Private money3. Own generated income

It is important to note that dependency on only one source of income is bad for the sustainability of a civil society organization. In the case of government funding, policies may change overnight and budget lines disappear. Private funders can get tired of your organization once the innovativeness is gone or when you have bad publicity. Depending fully on own generated income makes your organization a business and puts you out of the realm of civil society. Also, within one of the three categories it is important to spread the risk and have funding from different governments and budget lines, support from business and many private donors, and to have several different partners you work for.Within the three main categories we can define several sub categories:1. Governments a. Project based financing b. Institutional funding c. Tenders d. Assignments

2. Private money e. Private donors f. Lotteries g. Sponsoring h. Private funds

3. Own generated income I. Selling services or products j. Trust Fund (39

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Government: project based financingProject based financing is often based on government budget lines with open calls for proposals. CSOs submit proposals for projects according to the criteria set by the call. Often these calls are answered by many more organizations than can be granted. This means that if you want to succeed you have to follow some more or less basic rules:1. Always follow the terms of reference exactly; do not try to be

too creative or you will be kicked out of the procedure for not following the rules.

2. Behind the terms of reference there is a policy. Try not only to follow the rules but also the policy behind it. For example, sometimes a budget line is presented as development cooperation towards meeting the development goals but turns out to be an export promotion tool.

3. It is always good to know the people behind the budget and those who are responsible for the policy behind it. Although many times procedures are fair and transparent, sometimes it helps....

4. Be careful with what you promise, both in the results and the budget. At the end, a project may have cost the organization more than it brings.

Disadvantages

Selection criteria are

sometimes not very clear.

of work with limited

success.

Financial support is

temporary, so it is hard to

create sustainability based on

Some funders expect you to

have impossible results in a

one year project.

Advantages

There is a certain freedom in

developing your own

proposal.

It keeps you innovative and

sharp.

It is a lot

chance of

Projects force you to make

strategy, goals, work plan

and budget explicit.

projects.

Most times

project results

are made explicit because

they have to be reported

and evaluated.

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ExamplesProject financing is currently one of the main sources of government funding for civil society.

Governments: Institutional fundingAlthough nowadays they are hard to find, sometimes organizations are supported in a structural way by government sources. Based on an annual work plan and report, the organization receives institutional funding. This is a good basis and gives sustainability, especially if the support is guaranteed for many years. On the other hand, a civil society organization supported in this way is very much dependent on the source and may lose its independence. Another risk of this kind of funding is the fact that one can get used to being financed this way and you do not realize the luxury of such an arrangement. One day the government may change its policy and financial means are cut or even disappear.

ing is depending

on government decisions.

The project cycle brings a lot

of uncertainty and makes

long term strategy difficult

for your organization.

Projects force you to have

sound management and

external control of your

finances.

Your financ

Many funders do not allow

fees much higher than the

ones you need to survive as

an organization.

Advantages Disadvantages

Financial sustainability of

your organization.

Dependence on the source of

financing.

Good basis for development

of other financial resources.

Sometimes the government

applies certain rules,

like not

allowing the establishment of

a financial reserve for your

organization.

Possibility to develop and

implement a long-term

strategy.

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ExamplesThe EU DG environment has a budget line for European Networks on Environment. These networks can apply annually for core funding to support office costs and some staff. In the early years of its existence, Milieukontakt International had an annual budget per country, provided by the Ministry of Environment. But usually that means that those that apply can by the Ministry of Environment. But usually that means that those that apply can profit from this budget line and NGOs that are part of the network will be financially supported for attending meetings or developing strategies. There is an awareness of ENGOs from the Balkan region to decentralize this type of budget onthe local level, which has been articulated as establishing a core funding programme in DG Environment for environmental NGOs from the candidate and potential candidate countries with the aim of supporting implementation of the EU environmental acquisition.

Governments: TendersWhen governments have projects or assignments they want to have implemented, they often put out a tender. This is a more or less clearly defined assignment on which organizations or consortia can reflect. In many cases there are several rounds. First you send in your c.v.s and organization description and portfolio. A short list is made of five to three organizations that can apply. Then according to certain criteria, one organization is chosen for negotiation, mostly on the basis of price.

Advantages Disadvantages

Applying is often easier

than with project proposals,

because of the short listing.

There is even more

competition than with project

proposals. Many businesses

apply and in many cases, as

with the World Bank,

competition is worldwide.

Reporting is in most cases

much easier than with

project funding.

Often you deal with short-

term assignments and you

have little influence on the

content.

Sometimes you can have a

reasonable or even high fee. Sometimes you don’t know

the amount and limit yourself. (42

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Advantages Disadvantages

The content is entirely

determined by the

government giving the

assignment.

If you are successful you

may lose your status as a

civil society organization.

Good negotiation skills can

make for good payment. Taxes may be different for

this kind of work.

Often there are

a lot of

papers and forms to be filled

in. Once you have applied, it

is easier the next time.

In Albania the government budget for supporting organizations is very low or even non-existent. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Water Administration (MoEFWA) does not have a budget for such assignments for NGOs. Ekolevizja movement, in its attempts to institutionalize communication with MoEFWA through a MoU, has asked for a budget for (parts of) projects, (different projects that Ministry is implementing) to be allocated to NGOs for awareness raising, or organizing campaigns, etc.

ExamplesInternational Institutions like the Word Bank and EBRD have regular tenders. Also, Sida has a programme/policy of going through tenders. Many national institutions apply this method.

Governments: assignmentsWhen it is below a certain amount, governments do not have to tender for an assignment but can directly give it to an organization. This can be anything: research, stakeholder analysis or involvement, training, facilitation or just participation in a conference. Be aware that there are often possibilities within the government budget for financing these kinds of arrangements. When you are asked to participate in a meeting, there may be a financial benefit attached.Again, in doing this kind of work, be careful about your independence. Doing a lot of these assignments makes you a consultant and may drive you away from the mission of your organization.

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ExamplesSometimes fees are paid for joining a meeting or participating in an advisory board. You can organize a stakeholder meeting or an information campaign.

Private money: Private DonorsAll big environmental organizations have private supporters, citizens who pay an amount each year to support the organization's mission. During the past decade, annual support shifted more towards specific support per campaign. This financial source has two big advantages: First, the supporters may bring an enormous amount of money together; secondly, they give your organization legitimacy. The Dutch organizations for nature and environment have around 4,000,000 supporters altogether, which makes them well respected and a political force. The back side of financial source is that you need a strong marketing department to attract all the supporters. Sometimes these kinds of organizations develop into a big marketing machine, gaining lots of supporters but putting less emphasis on the 'product' they have to deliver. Marketing can also be outsourced to professionals who are not part of your organization. It also can limit your policy because with more supporters you have to be more mainstream and less critical of certain policies, for example, sensitive issues like mobility and car use. Organizations also have to beware of scandals or a damaged reputation. If the money from donations is not spent well, or supporters have that impression, your income and support may drop considerably. Many countries evaluate and grade these kinds of organizations, so that supporters can rely on the fact that the money is well spent. Organizing events, like dinners, fairs, flea markets, benefit concerts, etc., are ways to get private money from the market. Another method is to collect money on the streets or door-to-door, a work intensive method that can bring in a huge amount of moneyIn Albania there is no culture of philanthropy in the environment sector. There is a good example: SOS Kinderdorf village whose main core funding is from private donations (Albanian and international), but this is a charity service.

It might be a start for new

assignments.

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Advantages Disadvantages

Independence.

Requires

good investment in

marketing of your

organization and mission.

Supporters mean money and

power.

Every private donor will need

investment that is paid back

after two or more years.

The strategy combines

fundraising with visibility of

your organization.

You have to be even more

careful about your corporate

image than you already are.

Examples The Live Aid concert on July 2007 is a spectacular example, charity dinners for the AIDs victims, collections for animal welfare.

Private money: LotteriesLotteries are very popular and combined with charity make gambling a feel-good option. In the Netherlands, in 2011 the Postcode Lottery supported 83 organizations with 2.070 million euros. The lottery was established by the former marketing manager of NOVIB, the biggest development cooperation organization in the country. For some people, the whole marketing strategy supporting a lottery in which you can win such prizes as cars and flight tickets to exotic places to support the poor and needy is a bit contradictory. The lotteries reply that people gamble anyway, so they might as well be gambling for a good cause. To become a beneficiary of a lottery, certain conditions apply and good connections may help. When you are in, it is a nice contribution to your annual budget. This may be an area that Albanian NGOs can explore and should use in the future.

Advantages Disadvantages

It is (often a lot of) private

money with not too much

administration attached.

You have to accept the rules

of

the marketing department

of the lottery.

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ExamplePostcode Lottery, Netherlands

Private money: SponsoringThere are many ways companies can sponsor a civil society organization. Sponsoring may be connected to a product or service. For every SMS sent, your organization may receive 0.000005 eurocent from the phone company, or for every female product, you help a mother in Uganda, an example of cause related marketing. Another way is free of charge services, equipment or products; for example, a Dutch organization organizes an annual day for a good cause, when employees from business do something for your organization. Sometimes a local company donates the use of a tractor or caterpillar for a day. Supermarkets daily give tons of food to the food banks in many countries. The bank transfers the food to people in need. Other examples of sponsoring are (the big) companies that donate money for activities or facilities like an education centre or an office. Some tips:

Ÿ Be specific and clear about your proposition.Ÿ Treat the sponsor well but do not exaggerate.Ÿ Give a good visual report so the sponsor can demonstrate

success.Ÿ Make sure it is a success.Ÿ Do not bring in long stories, proposals or reports.Ÿ Your idea must be fresh and connected to the mission of the

company.

Advantages Disadvantages

If you have the right

connections,

it is easy to

realize.

It needs a lot of networking,

i.e. time investment.

It doesn’t require a lot of

reporting.

You must be able to leave

behind your ‘project

language’ and communicate

on the same level with the

sponsor.

You can get things done

that may cost a lot of

money.

Sometimes the time

investment is so high that it

is cheaper to pay for the

service.

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Example If you buy certain female hygiene products from Libresse, you support Sudanese girls' school attendance through Oxfam/Novib, WWF and a huge energy producer cooperated in the promotion of green energy.

Private money: Private fundsMany rich people want to do something good with their money, either while they are still alive or after they die. Sometimes millions are put in a special fund with a certain mission. Again, these funds have criteria and you must apply with project proposals to get in. These kinds of funds are also established by banks, companies and religious institutions.

Advantages

Disadvantages

In many cases these funds

are less bureaucratic. It is often hard to get in.

Examples The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Soros Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation. Own generated income: Selling services or productsCivil society organizations often have capacities or brands that can be capitalized on, or, in the best sense of the term, exploited. If you are good at stakeholder involvement or analysis, have experts on law, climate change or water, you can easily transfer information through a national network or have a bulletin that has a lot of exposure, other parties may be interested paying for these products or services. The Dutch organization for the Wadden Sea used to put their logo on all kinds of shirts, towels, cups, books and many other products that were at one time quite popular and made good money. Others sell their capacity in legal affairs or urban planning. Adoption is a fairly new product. People can adopt a tree, chicken, gorilla or any other kind of animal and pay an amount to support its survival.

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Advantages Disadvantages

Profit on products and

services is money that is

free to spend

on other

activities.

If you make too much profit

you may be regarded as a

business,

which can bring

certain disadvantages.

Products with your logo can

give broad visibility to your

organization.

Products need investment.

You have to buy and store

them. The investment may

weigh heavily on your

financial balance.

Services can give you entry

to,

and knowledge of, other

networks.

If you work on services for

more than 50%,

you may

consider becoming

a

consultancy.

Examples The organization for the Dutch Wadden Sea used to apply this strategy, WWF has a shop and fun page where you can buy books, calendars and videos, the Dutch Stichting Aarde was very successful with the action 'trees for cows', where people could adopt a tree to provide shade for cows in the field.

Own generated income: Live on interestIf you put a huge amount of money in the bank, you can raise interest. If you have 10 million euros at 5% interest, you have 500,000 euros to spend annually. Some organizations really are this fortunate.

Advantages Disadvantages

The allocation of this money

is entirely up to the board. You cannot use the money

that is in

the bank.

Take care that the money is

invested in decent causes. Donors will regard you as a

rich organization.

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V. Essential aspects of an effective civil society for the environment

Lessons learned in Albania and other countriesAll that is precious is defenceless', according to a Dutch poet. Civil society concern for environment and nature is uncertain. In the end it depends heavily on the motivation and willingness of citizens to contribute to this cause. Civil society organizations are small and do not have huge financial reserves. And since we are non-profit organizations, the ability to run a proper business is not a core capacity.

On the other hand, in many countries civil society has been active for 20 to 50 years. If there is no money coming in, volunteers take over certain functions and keep the organizations going, and every now and then, new organizations and initiatives emerge, and of course organizations disappear. Sustainability of civil society on environment and nature is not directly related to financial sustainability. It is related to the sustainability of citizens' commitment to the cause. This commitment, in turn, is related to awareness of the necessity of a healthy environment and a consciousness about the intrinsic or extrinsic values of nature.

It is also apparent that governments need civil society in their dialogue with society. In a participative democracy you need stakeholders with the capacity to represent citizens and 'give a voice to that which has no voice', like nature and environment. Finally, when things get out of hand because of bad policy or the irresponsible behaviour of authorities, citizens or companies, and the quality of the environment, peoples' health and livelihood are threatened, citizens will organize themselves to defend their environment.

This being said, it is evident that civil society on environment and nature will always have limited resources and instruments. This makes the need for effective use of these resources all the more important. At the end of this book we provide some recommendations.

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1. Respect the diversity and the network character of civil society and do not try to control it from one central body. All experience in this field turns out to be counterproductive because of the rise of conflicts about who is in charge and what strategy should be followed within the network.

2. Develop a support structure for the organizations. This structure must be service oriented and deserve its role and status through added value for the organizations. The role of the structure can be the organization of network meetings, facilitating training and education and delivery of services on demand, like human resource management, interim management and legal advice. The service does not need many employees; resources can be taken from organizations within the network. In this case, the structure is more a broker between parties than a service centre.

3. Develop a strong membership base. Members make your organization and network financially and politically stronger and form the connection with society. Feedback from members can tell you whether or not you are on the right track.

4. Be very conscious of your corporate and network image. You may be critical but should always be reliable. If you are working for a (good) cause you must practice what you preach or have a very good and understandable reason if you don't. Communication is very tricky. To gain members or subsidies, you have to promise tangible results. But if you promise too much you will be confronted with your failure in the long run.

5. Be sure that the basics in (financial) management are well organized so that no money of funders, members or sponsors is lost because of failing management, bad or no decision making, lengthy meetings and useless conferences.

6. Keep looking for allies within and outside your own network. Civil society organizations can hardly achieve results all by themselves. A nice campaign or an educational activity is easily organized, but will make little difference if they are not part of a bigger picture including several powerful stakeholders in society. (50

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7. Organize your lobby in parliament on local, national and international levels if you want to influence decision making. Some civil society networks have permanent representatives on the national and international levels and are well known in their communities.

8. The diversity of the movement is both its strength and its weakness. Mixed strategies in influencing policies and gaining (financial) support are in almost all cases advisable.

After ten years of supporting network activities in Albania, there are some specific recommendations for civil society on nature and environment in the country.

1. Although international financial sources may gradually disappear, it would be of great value if the organizations manage to maintain the spirit of cooperation and the openness in discussions that has been developed.

2. It cannot be stressed enough: Build up a membership base for your organizations and the network as a whole. Albania does not have a strong tradition in this sense, but in the future membership will be a necessity to sustain organizations and a network. The fact that there is no tradition can also be an opportunity; it is new and probably the market is not yet overloaded with competition.

A growing middle class with the need for a healthy environment, clean river banks and beaches may also open up opportunities. Just start small and try hard!

3. Diversify your financial support. Currently the international community is the main source of finances for Albanian civil society. In the coming years this source may become rather small, so other sources have to be explored.

4. Find cooperation in environment monitoring, data collection, research /investigation, and share this information among each other.

5. Communicate your actions to media, the public and authorities in order to be visible in society. (51

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6. Form the experience on position papers into a tradition in development of common positions on specific issues, thus uniting and strengthening the voice of civil society to maintain your influence on the decision making process.

7. Develop and include expertise on sustainable alternatives for government policy.

8. Keep including relevant stakeholders on hot issues to make these problems and their solutions common concerns that require common solutions.

9. Use mechanisms and programs to actively participate in drafting and implementing environmental legislation, and join initiatives undertaken to adapt current Albanian legislation to EU directives.

10. Keep on connecting the (inter)national level with local initiatives and vice versa.

11. Promote community participation in environmental protection through environmental direct actions.

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Literature

Blueprint for survival, Edward Goldsmith and Robert Allen Publisher Ecosystems Ltd. Publication , 1972

Limits to growth, Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers, William W. Behrens III, English Publisher Universe Books Publication , 1972 Pages 205 ISBN 0-87663-165-0 OCLC Number 307838

Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. Kolb. D. A. and Fry, R. (1975) in C. Cooper (ed.) Theories of Group Process, London: John Wiley

Silent Spring, Rachel Carson Country United States Language English Subject(s) Environmentalism Publisher Houghton Mifflin Publication date 27 September 1962

Strategies of Dutch Environmental Organizations; Ozone Depletion, Acidification and Climate Change, Pleune, R., Department of Science, Technology and Society, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 1997, pp. 188 (NW&S No. 97055, ISBN No. 90 5727 016 1).

Environment and democracy in the Czech Republic: the environmental movement in the transition process by Adam Fagan, 2004. Elgar, vi + 195 pp. ISBN 1-85898-876-4

Money for Earth, J. Haverkamp, M. Verheije, D.Schwarz, Milieukontakt Oost Europa, 1995

Fondswerving, mogelijkheden en instrumenten, J.Donner, C.Groot, De 12 provinciale Milieufederaties 1998

Communication Networks: Toward a New Paradigm for Research. Rogers, E.M. & Kincaid, D.L. New York: Free Press (1981).

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

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Authors and acknowledgements

Jerphaas Donner (1961) is director of Milieukontakt International since 2000. In 1994 he managed his first support project in Cracow Poland while he was communication expert and fundraiser for a provincial umbrella organization on environment in the Province of Overijssel in The Netherlands. Before that he worked as a campaign and communications officer. He is a social scientist with a specialization in network development. Furthermore he is active as a trainer and advisor of networks of environmental organizations in more than 20 countries.

Valbona Mazreku (1972) works for Milieukontakt Albania since 2000 as director of the Milieukontakt office in Albania. She

During the past decade she supported the development of the Albanian NGO network on nature and environment as a coordinator and a trainer. She was initiator, manager and motivating force in the projects ’’Green Agenda in Albania’’ and ’’Strengthening the Albanian Civil; Society for an Improved Environment’’ (SACSIE). This book would not have been written without the support of:

Jac. H. de Raat, translation

Sandra Molenkamp, project manager Milieukontakt international

Rrezearta Ago, project manager Milieukontakt Albania

Valmira Kallushi, financial manager Milieukontakt Albania

The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Tirana, main supporter of the Sacsie project.

is president of Ekolevizja Network in Albania.

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